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on another wild adventure.....with kids! Prague, Bavaria, austria

Thank you Fodor's friends for helping me plan our Scotland and England trip last year. This year we have another exciting trip planned in august with our two kids ages 5 and 8 (girls).

Here is a rough idea of what I plan on doing....we are flying into Prague and out of Vienna. Total of 16 days. I have already booked apartments in Prague and Vienna...for 5 nights each location. I want to go to Munich via train and spend 3 nights there and rent a car and drive down to Fussen/Hohenschwagau to see the Neuschwanstein castle(cinderella's castle) and spend one night in the area. Then drive to Salzburg for 2 nights before we either return the rental in Salzburg and train to vienna or drive to Vienna and drop off the car there.

Does this make sense? Originally I wanted to fly from Prague to Munich but too expensive...and my other option was just to train it to Salzburg but same distance/time to Munich and I don't have to change trains like I would going to Salzburg from Vienna. Also, am I missing anything obvious? Should I see something that is a must see/do in the region?

"I want to go to Munich via train and spend 3 nights there and rent a car and drive down to Fussen/Hohenschwagau to see the Neuschwanstein castle(cinderella's castle) and spend one night in the area. Then drive to Salzburg for 2 nights before we either return the rental in Salzburg and train to vienna or drive to Vienna and drop off the car there."

"Does this make sense?"

I think it would make more sense, if you want to see some real castles, to take the train straight to Salzburg and spend an extra day seeing one or more of the castles there. Cinderella's place is actually King Ludwig's place - a private home built in the late 19th century and lived in for 6 months. It really is not worth the trip there for the relatively dull tour even if it inspired Walt Disney's film making (and even if it is pretty stunning from outside) and definitely not worth renting a car for. The 4 Salzburg castles have been around for roughly a millenium and provide a look at the Europe that was:

Hohenwerfen Castle is surrounded by stunning mountain scenery, is accessible by train from Salzburg, and offers a free-flight falconry exhibition as well: http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/falconry-salzburg-austria.htm It also has a tie to the American film industry; "Where Eagles Dare" with Clint Eastwood was filmed there.

What did you find out about car rentals? If the one way fees into Austria are cost prohibitive, consider dropping the car just over the border from Salzburg, in Freilassing.

There is a high speed train which travels directly from Salzburg to Vienna, faster than a car, so you shouldn't need a car rental beyond Freilassing/Salzburg.

The itinerary looks do-able to me. While I kind of agree with Russ that you might just want to skip Neuschwanstein for the castles around Salzburg, I see that you are travelling with young children who might find it important to see it.

Don't miss Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna for the kids (www.schoenbrunn.at/en.html). They even have a children's program/museum and there are other activities for kids on the grounds, such as a maze, a playground.

One thing you might be missing is the duration of your travels from Prague to Munich. Over 5 hrs by train. I think there is a bus that might get there in 4.5 hrs. If you think that's too much for the girls, you could break up the trip in Nürnberg (you could even rent your car from there).

"Originally I wanted to fly from Prague to Munich but too expensive...and my other option was just to train it to Salzburg but same distance/time to Munich and I don't have to change trains like I would going to Salzburg from Vienna."

There would be no change of trains to Salzburg from Vienna.

What apartment did you book in Vienna? We will be there this summer (earlier) and are currently researching our options.

You can also consider Cesky Krumlov for a night or two, and then spending some "rural" time with the girls around the Austrian lakes/Salzkammergut area, or even down to the Berchtesgaden area. They may appreciate that instead of back to back to back cities.

eluckhardt makes a really good point. Munich kind of sticks out. Perhaps between the two large cities which bookend the trip (Prague and Vienna), change the pace for the middle part. Cesky Krumlov is a great suggestion. You could also base yourself in Salzburg or around the area (Salzkammergut) and have a few days of seeing the mountains and countryside and the castles. That would tighten up your travel times and distances and keep it a little varied for the kids, rather than 3 consecutive cities.

no I meant a direct train from Prague to Salzburg isn't available but there is a direct one into Munich. i'm now wondering if it would makes sense as you stated to just keep it to two countries. To see Cesky Krumlov and the austrian lake area....would you suggest a car rental instead of trains? From my research bus or driving to Cesky Krumlov is suggested. The train is also become a major cost. 3 countries for 4 people...average is around 1300...ouch! This is yet another reason to keep it to prague area and austria locations.

If your plan is Prague - C. Krumlov - Salzburg/Salzkammergut - Vienna, you have a few transportation options. Train is often, but not always, most efficient.

From Prague to Cesky Krumlov, a bus or even private shuttle is a straightforward and economical 3 hr ride. From Cesky Krumlov, you could take a 1.5 hr bus or private shuttle to Linz, Austria. There are a number of reliable and convenient bus and shuttle services which run between Prague, Cesky Krumlov, and Linz, Vienna, or even Munich.

From Linz, there are easy train connections to the Salzburg area (just over 1 hr train ride). And from Salzburg to Vienna, you will travel with the high speed train faster than by car.

There is no way you should be seeing total fares around 1300 euros. I am almost certain that kids 5 and under travel free (but may require a seat reservation). I think kids from 6 to 14 get a 50% discount. So, the train from Linz to Salzburg, for example, would be about 22 euros per adult, 11 euros for the 8-year-old, and free for the 5-year-old. I think the full adult one way fare from Salzburg to Vienna is around 50 euros.

An alternative would be to take the bus to Linz and pick up a rental car there for touring the Salzburg area. You could even drop it in Vienna. That way you might limit the rental and avoid significant surcharges.

Also check out the Austrian rail site (http://www.oebb.at/) for schedules and prices. The German rail site (bahn.de) is also very well organized and navigable for train schedules throughout Europe.

Yeah, forget the rail passes. Just go point to point. If you keep an eye on the website for the stretches you need to ride the train, there might be special prices. For the two or three legs you might need to train, $1,300 USD is still way more than the total fares will cost. For this trip, rail passes don't really make a lot of sense.

I don't have strong feelings on how to best break up the 5 days in the middle. If you decide to rent a car and do some day trips in the area, you might also consider making a smaller town your base and heading up to Salzburg for a day trip. One tie breaker might be to survey lodging options in Salzburg compared to other places in the area (Berchtesgaden, and the lake towns in the Salzkammergut). I like Salzburg, but I only spent 2 nights there. There's plenty to do in SB for a day or two, but also tons to see and do in the area. I found Berchesdagen quite charming, but I know there are other charming places in the area too (Hallstatt, St. Wolfgang, Mondsee...)